A DAY of double disappointment for Colin Fleming saw the 30-year-old from Linlithgow eliminated in both the men's and mixed doubles competitions.
Playing in the second round of the men's event with his American partner Eric Butorac, he was no match for No 3 seeds and reigning Wimbledon champions Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil, going down 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4), and afterwards comparing their flat, lifeless performance to one that his favourite football team Partick Thistle might occasionally put in at Parkhead.
While he had little time to rest on his laurels, his fortunes didn't pick up too much later on, when he and Jocelyn Rae - Scotland's Commonwealth Gold medal winning mixed doubles team from Delhi in 2010 - went down 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1 defeat to Croatian pairing Marin Draganja Anna Konjuh.
"Jocelyn and I haven't played since Wimbledon last year so we can't be too disappointed with our level," said Fleming after his dual ordeal, which is unlikely to assist his chances of making the cup for Great Britain's Davis Cup tie with France at Queen's Club in a fortnight's time. "Actually I was quite glad that I played again today because I was disappointed with how my men's doubles went andI wanted to put a few things right. Physically I was fine, because my men's doubles wasn't too strenuous, unfortunately! We made it too easy for them. It felt like although we were underdogs and feeling good and could get stuck in. If I was my football team and I was watching me, I would have been going mental."
As unpleasant as yesterday was for Fleming, today could be a new beginning for Scottish tennis, with Ali Collins, the 15-year-old from Dunblane appearing for the first time here after being handed a wild card. With the Murray family currently facing a challenge to fund her development away from Britain, she faces highly-rated Sofya Zhuk of Russia first on Court No 16. "I took her to Eastbourne as the fifth player in the Junior Grand Slam matches against France," Judy Murray told Herald Sport. "And she got a real buzz from being part of that team environment. In terms of mindset, and tennis ability I think she has all of those things. If we can put the right things around her she has excellent potential."
Collins is one of four Scots in total entered into the junior competitions. Maia Lumsden, the 17-year-old from Bearsden who has been practising under the watchful eye of Nick Bolletieri out at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, is the only one who qualifies by right, but she has no easy task, facing the No 3 seed, Dalma Gafia of Hungary. Her fellow 17-year-old Anna Brogan, of Glasgow, would hardly have chosen her opponent either, facing Marketa Vandrousova of the Czech Republic, the No 1 seed for the entire event. In the boys' event, there is a maiden Grand Slam appearance for Ewan Moore of Ayrshire. He doesn't have it easy, facing No 6 seed Marcelo Barrios Vera of Chile.
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